title: A 'Neural Sampling Theory (NST)' of learning and memory mechanisms.
abstract: The purpose of the Neural Sampling Theory (NST) is to propose a plausible neurobiological explanation for some general properties of learning and memory (LM) phenomena, based on the parallelism and redundancy of the nervous system organization; on the psychological side, the NST is inspired by the Stimulus Sampling and Encoding Variability theories. The sampling process which is its core, is not purely random; it depends on temporal and intensity factors. The NST may be implemented at different levels of the nervous system: synapse, neuron, assembly of neurons. Moreover, it may be incorporated in other formal models and improve their degree of neural realism. For instance it allows to give a more realistic representation of the connection weight in the connectionist models and of the noisy character of the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Psychophysiologie, Université Paris 7, Sevres, France. Jean.Delacour@snv.jussieu.fr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delacour
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lévy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mercier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009420:Nervous System; D009474:Neurons; D013569:Synapses; D009435:Synaptic Transmission